Dental floss is a widely prescribed dental cleaning aid. Proper use of dental floss is essential for thorough cleaning of the teeth. Proper manual flossing includes horizontal motion of the floss until the floss passes through the contact point between two adjacent teeth, followed primarily by vertical movement of the floss to clean the adjacent teeth once the floss is in the interproximal area.
Power flossing devices are known to have horizontal vibration of the floss for entry of the floss into the interproximal area, as well as an up and down motion of some type when the floss has entered the interproximal area. Typical power flossing devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,279,314, 5,170,809 and 5,016,660 and the patents referenced in each.
Many of these prior art power flossing devices contain many parts and are difficult to assemble. This results in a large number of parts and considerable labor for assembly, which translates into high prices for consumers. For instance, the motion translation assembly of the power flossing device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,314, includes a cam body 70, yoke 80, and body portion 104, each to fit within particular slots situated in top and bottom sections 62 and 64.